RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20277/gaza-not-over

The usual suspects in the Middle East peacemaking industry are already beginning to recycle their old and discredited ideas. President Joe Biden, sounding like a dummy for the ventriloquist Barack Obama, is talking of “a two-state solution: one for the Israelis and one for the Palestinians.”

The optimists forget that what turned Gaza into the hell-hole it has become wasn’t economic hardship. Before October 7, Gaza had a lower unemployment rate than the West Bank, Jordan and Egypt. In the first two quarters of 2023, the Gaza economy grew by four percent while that of the West Bank remained almost static.

One Iranian IRGC analyst, writing in the force’s Fars News site last week, indicates that Tehran does not expect a Hamas victory but wants it to “continue fighting as long as possible” so that more and more Israelis see that the best option is to leave.

Tehran also promises to throw more of its regional assets, including the Lebanese Hezbollah, the Yemeni Houthis and various outfits in Iraq and Syria into the fray, albeit in small doses so that Iran not be dragged into the war itself.

What turned Gaza into the hell-hole it has become wasn’t economic hardship. Thanks to international aid and donations, Gaza ranked ahead of Iran as percentage of GDP allocated to health and education. At the same time, Hamas did not need to fund its military and the tunnels it dug through taxation, as Tehran covered much of the cost.

As the war in Gaza enters its third month, the short-attention span syndrome that characterizes our age swings in full gear to reduce it to a version of background noise. You might have noticed that the war is bowing out of front pages and dropped down several slots in TV news bulletins.

www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com

While the “river to the sea” thugs harass diners and shop owners and disturb traffic on bridges and airports, and spoil holiday traditions here in America, in Israel, as Michael Ordman catalogs, research and developments in medicine, science and technology proceed beyond the sirens and screeching headlines of an ongoing war. rsk

“Several welcome potential cures were undergoing human trials last week. A stent for blocked leg arteries; Nitric Oxide for cancer; and a device to prevent delirium in immobile hospital patients.  New Israeli technology includes a system that welcomes you and then parks your car automatically. And now that welcome rains have arrived, a solar farm’s systems redirect the water to irrigate crops efficiently. “ Michael Ordman

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR
 
More heroes of Oct 7. (TY UWI) Brothers Daniel and Neria Sharabi, saved dozens of lives at the Supernova music festival on Oct 7 by providing fire cover for escapees with weapons they found in a tank, while receiving instructions over the phone from an IDF officer. They also treated the wounded who were hiding with them.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/brothers-saved-dozens-at-nova-fighting-terrorists-with-commanders-phoned-in-advice/
 
Operation Hug. Some very emotional scenes as Nefesh b’Nefesh flies out parents to Israel to greet their lone soldier children serving in combat units. There is no guarantee that the IDF will release the soldiers to meet up with their parents but just see the reaction when they do! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw8T6_lfvTk   
https://www.nbn.org.il/operation-hug/  https://twitter.com/i/status/1740680579639882126
https://worldisraelnews.com/watch-french-lone-soldier-reunites-with-family-after-9-months/
 
Support for parents of IDF soldiers. Parents Beyachad is a worldwide group of parents of IDF soldiers. They have enlisted famous personalities to record 60+ video messages of support.
https://www.jns.org/wire/video-messages-provide-support-to-parents-of-idf-soldiers/
https://www.parentsbeyachad.org/
 
Word of the Year – Resilience. Israel21c’s Word of the Year for 2023 is Resilience. Israeli NGO Eran defines it as “the ability to enlist internal resources such as flexible thinking, creativity and a willingness to receive help, together with external resources, in order to overcome the challenges and obstacles that always face us.”
https://www.israel21c.org/israels-word-of-the-year-for-2023-is-resilience/  https://en.eran.org.il/
 
Showers, tailor, laundry, beds. Not a John le Carre book, but some of the innovative mobile services that Israelis have developed to provide IDF soldiers with basic necessities. Thanks to Brothers and Sisters for Israel, (see here) the NGO Restart (see here), Rabbi Shai Graucher (see here), and Bentov Ellipsis.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/beds-baths-beyond-israelis-get-creative-to-support-the-troops/  
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPIQpTKUg1k  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eTya3ufLZo
https://www.bentov.net/  https://vimeo.com/882815262
 
The spirit of wounded soldiers. These brave soldiers send out such positive inspirational messages.
https://www.jns.org/a-rare-glimpse-into-the-recovery-of-wounded-soldiers/
 
Just see what Israelis can recycle. IDF reservist Dan Levit is VP of R&D at Israel’s U-Tron Parking. He assembled a team to rehabilitate 24 decommissioned IDF tanks and then trained volunteers to operate them. The appropriately named “Phoenix” tank battalion is already seeing action in Gaza. And the IDF wants more.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/fixing-up-old-tanks-and-recruiting-old-reservists-a-tech-vp-creates-a-new-battalion/  
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Cure for Peripheral Artery Disease sounds good. Israel’s NovaPulse has developed a “virtual” stent that opens blocked arteries in the legs. The implant sits just under the skin on the leg; when the patient moves, they generate ultrasound waves that dilate the implant, allowing oxygenated blood to flow from the heart.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/virtual-stent-uses-sound-waves-to-open-blocked-leg-arteries/
https://medxelerator.com/almeda-ventures-joins-medx-xelerator-and-israel-innovation-authority-in-vascular-medtech-startup-novapulse-investment/
 
Nitric Oxide for cancer. Israel’s Beyond Air (see here previously) has partnered with US-based Beyond Cancer to produce a form of immunotherapy for solid tumors known as ultra-high concentration nitric oxide (UNO). The ultra-high concentration of UNO is undergoing Phase 1 human trials.
https://nocamels.com/category/news-briefs/#post-126279
 
Restoring sanity in the ICU. Two Israeli hospitals (Beilinson and Assuta Ashdod) are trialing the innovative communication headset for locked-in patients developed by Israel’s EyeControl (see here previously). They want to see if it can reduce the incidences of delirium (nightmares & hallucinations) in ICU patients.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/israeli-med-tech-companys-innovative-headset-could-reduce-delirium-in-icu-patients/
 
Computer games can lift depression. Neuroscientist Prof. Moshe Bar co-founded Israel’s Hedonia and created the computer game Mood Bloom to reduce negative feelings. It is based on a therapy called Facilitating Thought Progression (FTP) in which mini games require the player to focus less on circular thoughts.  
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/hedonia-mood-bloomanxiety-depression-mobile-app/
 
Rehabilitating wounded soldiers. More on the Kemtai AI-powered virtual physiotherapist (see here previously) that Israel’s medical institutions and organizations are using to help get wounded IDF service people on the journey back to health.  https://vimeo.com/707320029
https://nocamels.com/2024/01/virtual-physio-helping-wounded-soldiers-on-road-to-recovery/
 
 
ISRAEL IS INCLUSIVE AND GLOBAL
 
Guardian angels. (TY UWI) The all-female IDF Sky Rider unit operates the drones (UAVs) that protect troops on the ground.  Read here about a battle where they were the eyes in the sky for the 13th Battalion in one of the major battles of the ground incursion Gaza and helped the soldiers on the ground emerge unscathed.
https://www.jns.org/the-guardian-angels-of-golanis-13th-battalion-recall-dramatic-encounter/
 
Friends despite the war. (TY Diana Bletter) Two Jews and two Muslims share an apartment run by Kivunim, an organization that helps young adults with disabilities. Despite Oct 7, the four flat mates get along just as before. Kivunim’s 45 apartments in Nahariya and Haifa house some 120 residents with disabilities.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/at-group-home-in-nahariya-bond-between-muslim-and-jewish-young-adults-survives-oct-7/   https://www.kvn.org.il/en/about/  
 
No cycle of violence here. (TY Diana Bletter) Zippy Schrager, a 56-year-old Rabbi’s daughter, manages a cycle repair shop in Mailiya, a Christian Arab village in the Western Galilee, just 12 miles from Lebanon. Zippy learned how to fix bikes from the shop co-owner Ron Boutillier who is currently on IDF reserve duty.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/amid-gaza-war-a-us-born-jewish-woman-mans-a-christian-arab-towns-bike-shop/
 
Man of the Year. (TY UWI) Frontpage Magazine’s Man of the Year is the IDF Soldier. It writes, “In a year of defeatism and surrender, he is fighting back… The men on the front lines are not the politicians or the generals, they’re among the 360,000 reservists … who left behind their homes, families, and jobs to go and fight.”
https://www.frontpagemag.com/frontpage-magazines-man-of-the-year-the-idf-soldier/  
 
Zionist Leadership Academy. (TY Sharon) KKL-JNF and the WZO’s Zionist Leadership Academy is a 10-month program to develop young global leaders who will strengthen connections between their communities and Israeli institutions. Read about the recent mission to Israel of 18 program graduates from 14 countries.
https://baltimorejewishlife.com/news/news-detail.php?SECTION_ID=37&ARTICLE_ID=169222
https://www.wzo.org.il/department/pioneering-youth-and-future-generations/zionist-leadership-academy/en
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jh5xnJ5cnzk

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/20274/palestinian-authority-hamas

The Biden administration has yet to spell out what it means when it talks about a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority.

If the Biden administration is hoping that the PA leadership will halt its ongoing campaign of incitement against Israel in the mosques, media and the rhetoric of Palestinian officials, it is living in a dream world. If the Biden administration believes that the PA, as part of a “revitalization” process, will cease its endless glorification of terrorists and systematically rewarding them with monthly stipends for murdering Israelis, it is also in for a rude awakening.

The Biden administration… can continue to dream about “revamping” the PA, but… every Palestinian child knows that this will never happen as long as Palestinian leaders continue to pay handsomely for the murder of Jews and call for the elimination of Israel.

As the Biden administration doubtless knows, replacing Hamas with the PA will change nothing in the Gaza Strip.

As the Biden administration continues to promote the idea of having a “revitalized” Palestinian Authority (PA) govern the Gaza Strip the day after the current Israel-Hamas war, PA leaders are again proving why they are not much different from the Iran-backed Islamist terrorists who want to destroy Israel and murder Jews.

After the January 2 assassination in Beirut, Lebanon, of Saleh al-Arouri, deputy head of the Hamas “political bureau,” who was behind countless terroir attacks against Israelis over the past decade, PA leaders were quick to praise him as a “martyr” and a “hero” and condemn Israel for allegedly killing the top Hamas terrorist. This glorification of an arch-terrorist is nothing less than a full endorsement of Hamas’s Jihad (holy war) on Israel, as outlined in its 1988 charter, which states that “Jihad is its path and death for the sake of Allah is the loftiest of its wishes.” (Article 8)

https://www.jns.org/israel-wants-unrwa-out-of-gaza/

 Israel’s Foreign Ministry has put together a classified report calling for the removal of UNRWA from the Gaza Strip in the long-term, noting that the U.N. relief agency works against Israel’s interests.

The report’s recommendations set out a three-stage process for shrinking and eventually eliminating UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, from the Strip: 1) Prepare a case detailing UNRWA’s cooperation with Hamas; 2) Reduce UNRWA’s field of activity and find replacement service providers; and 3) Transfer UNRWA’s responsibilities to another entity.

Channel 12, which revealed the existence of the secret report on Thursday, noted that Israel wants to move slowly, recognizing that the U.S. sees UNRWA as a positive player in humanitarian efforts in the Strip. The ministry hopes to gradually build the case for ousting the organization, linking that goal to discussions on “the day after” Hamas.

Kobi Michael, a senior researcher at Tel Aviv’s Institute for National Security Studies (INSS), supports dislodging UNRWA, telling JNS that “UNRWA was born in sin and exists in sin, therefore, it should be dismantled.

“It was established because of pressure by the Arab world as a platform to leverage the interests of Arab leaders against the State of Israel using the Palestinian [refugee] issue,” Michael said.

 www.verygoodnewsisrael.blogspot.com 

As 2023 comes to an end, I unashamedly write this introduction with much emotion. There are now definite signs that Israel is winning the war against Hamas in Gaza. It cannot fail, thanks to a winning team of supporters in Israel and across the globe who, like the many thousands of readers of this newsletter, have been donating time, money, skills, accommodation, essential supplies, and more, to help the IDF fight against those wishing to destroy the Jewish State and civilization as a whole. Michael Ordman

POSITIVE NEWS DURING A WAR
 
2.6 million items of warm clothing. Friends of the IDF in the United States completed “Winter Clothing Operation,” a 5-week initiative to send 150 tons (over 2.5 million items) of essential winter clothing and gear to Israeli soldiers fighting on the front line in Gaza.
https://www.jns.org/friends-of-the-idf-ships-150-tons-of-winter-clothing-gear-to-troops/  
 
Nvidia donates $15 million. Thousands of employees of IT giant Nvidia donated $5 million to support Israelis affected by the war. This was tripled by Nvidia itself, with an additional $10 million donation.
https://www.calcalistech.com/ctechnews/article/bjjbd8hwp
https://www.timesofisrael.com/nvidia-raises-15-million-to-help-israeli-civilians-affected-by-hamas-war/
 
You’re never too old. Ezra Yachin at 95 years young is the oldest active IDF reservist. Despite losing an eye in 1948, he was called up to active duty in the current war. The New York Post, Al Jazeera, etc., wrote about the elderly IDF soldier who put on a uniform again to defend Israel. And he says the enemy hasn’t changed tactics.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382468
https://nypost.com/2023/10/10/95-year-old-reservist-joins-israels-fight-against-hamas-terrorists/ (skip video)
 
Citizen’s Kitchen. (TY UWI) US immigrant to Israel, Aliya Fastman, launched Citizen’s Kitchen on Oct 9, converting her Citrus & Salt studio for cooking lessons into a community kitchen for meal distribution. It has since provided 20,000+ meals to soldiers, bereaved or displaced families, and synagogues hosting meals.
https://www.algemeiner.com/2023/12/20/how-olim-are-helping-israels-war-effort-part-3-providing-meals-displaced-families-soldiers/  https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-769799
https://www.citrusandsaltcooking.com/
 
JNF-USA volunteers in action. (TY UWI) Volunteers from JNF-USA have heeded the cry of Israel in its time of need and offered whatever services they could help with.  From cooking meals for soldiers on bases, crop picking and storing, to watching children; these volunteers are taking a huge burden off the shoulders of Israel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k2x5QojlPhI   https://www.jnf.org/ways-to-help/support-israel
https://www.jnf.org/travel/tours/index/volunteer-in-israel-missions
 
Volunteers from UK & Germany. Lovely to hear the accents of British volunteers and their reasons for coming to help on farms on farms in southern Israel.  Meanwhile (TY Hazel) staff from the German Embassy volunteered for a day in the orange harvest to help short-staffed Israeli farmers.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6axF7JOJ7eQ
https://www.instagram.com/germanyinisrael/reel/C1Epm9hsHIV/
 
Ways that Israelis are volunteering. Israelis are finding unusual ways to pitch in to aid those affected by the events of October 7 and the ongoing battle in Gaza. They include tailoring, matchmaking, folding laundry, giving haircuts, cleaning hospital rooms, rescuing vehicles, and a mobile restroom.
https://www.israel21c.org/the-most-unusual-ways-israelis-are-volunteering-during-the-war/
 
Thanks for the donation. IDF forces have uncovered millions of shekels in Gaza and PA cities that were intended to fund terrorism.  Israel will make better use of the money.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hy5gf99pa  https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkmz00spia
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-775178
 
 
ISRAEL’S MEDICAL ACHIEVEMENTS
 
Hospital launches innovation hub. Jerusalem’s Shaare Zedek Medical Center has partnered with international investment firm Arieli Capital to create SHAAR – a joint healthcare innovation hub, designed to be a center for medical research. Healthcare companies will be invited to the first global scale-up cohort by the end of 2023.
https://nocamels.com/2023/12/top-jerusalem-hospital-unveils-healthcare-innovation-hub/
 
Thousands of overseas volunteer doctors. Israel’s Health Ministry has received 7,500 requests from foreign physicians to volunteer in Israel. Nearly 5,000 are from North America and 1,000 from Europe. Many are not Jewish – they just want to help. 450 have Israeli licenses and the rest are being fast-tracked.
https://www.jns.org/the-medical-specialists-who-left-all-behind-to-volunteer-in-israel/
 
Physical therapy on the front lines. Many of Israel’s IDF reservists are in the thirties and forties and not as fit and subtle as they used to be. So UK-born Tasha Cohen launched Chayal’s Angels of volunteer yoga therapists, massage therapists, acupuncturists, physiotherapists and chiropractors who treat 50 to 200 soldiers every day.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/an-army-of-volunteer-physical-therapists-treats-aching-idf-soldiers-on-the-front-lines/  
 
Miracle survival from deadly wounds. Despite many tragic losses, two IDF soldiers survived gunshot wounds that are usually fatal. Major Itai was hit by a bullet that is still lodged in his brain and cannot be removed. Another bullet passed through Sgt Oren Dovid’s heart.  Following surgery, both want to return to their units.
https://unitedwithisrael.org/idf-heroes-remarkably-survive-gunshots-to-the-heart-and-brain/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwvsHSseXTE  (Hebrew video of Major Itai, but easy to appreciate.)
 
Hyperbaric oxygen to treat PTSD.  Traumatized survivors of the Hamas Oct 7 terror attacks and IDF soldiers with PTSD are receiving HBOT therapy (see here) breathing pure oxygen in high pressure cabins. It is one of the treatments available to patients of the national clinic for PTSD, created by Tel Aviv University.
https://bnnbreaking.com/breaking-news/health/israeli-ptsd-victims-find-hope-in-hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-post-hamas-attacks/ .  https://english.tau.ac.il/news/national-ptsd-clinic
 
HBOT for Mikey. (TY Avi Abelow) Mikey, a key member of the IDF Oketz search and rescue special forces unit, was severely wounded by a grenade thrown by a Hamas terrorist. She recovered most of her faculties in just a few weeks thanks to Hyperbaric oxygen treatment (HBOT) at Israel’s Shamir hospital. Mikey is a dog!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=30kPEOwv5hc
 
From death’s door to discharge. Menashe Eisner, 63, suffered a heart attack and was placed on life support. A complex bypass operation failed. Then surgeons at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus implanted a left ventricular assist device (LVAD). Miraculously, 40 days later, Eisner was able to go home.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/LVAD_medical_miracle.aspx
 
Preventing severe lung diseases in diabetics. 35% of patients that died of Covid-19 were diabetics. This led scientists at Israel’s Weizmann Institute to discover that high blood sugar levels disrupted the immune system response to infection. They then developed experimental medication to reverse the sugar-induced dysfunction.
https://wis-wander.weizmann.ac.il/life-sciences/why-people-diabetes-are-more-prone-respiratory-risk
 
No big shakes. Lynette Hoffman-Elharar remembers a time when Essential tremor meant she could not hold a glass of water or draw a straight line. Now, after undergoing noninvasive MRI-guided focused ultrasound (MRIgFUS) at Haifa’s Rambam Health Care Campus, she is knitting woolen hats for IDF soldiers.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/Knitting_again_after_bilateral_MRIgFUS.aspx
 
Helping the helpers. Jerusalem’s Herzog Medical Center is supported by organizations in the USA, Canada, and the UK. The British Friends of the hospital have just launched a national campaign “Helping the Helpers”’ providing support for mental health professionals treating an increasing number of trauma patients.
http://www.herzoghospital.org/   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UVmFbpfHMLk
https://www.afherzoghospital.org/  https://www.herzoghospital.ca/
 
96% of nurses at Rambam are graduates. Thanks to two international scholarship programs, 23 nurses at Israel’s Rambam Health Care Campus recently advanced their studies to specialize in various medical disciplines. 96% of Rambam nurses currently hold academic degrees. The target is 100%.
https://www.rambam.org.il/en/rambam_news/2023_nursing_scholarships.aspx
 
Record year for liver transplants. In 2023 at Schneider Children’s Medical Center in Petah Tikva, a record 24 life-saving liver transplants were conducted in infants, children, and adolescents. Liver transplants in children are among the most medically complex. Two donations were from soldiers killed in the war in Gaza.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382698
 
Israeli doctor saves passenger on El Al flight. Dr. Nathan Ungar, a long-time United Hatzalah volunteer, saved a 70-year-old diabetic passenger who lost consciousness twice on an El Al flight from Bulgaria to Israel. Dr Ungar closely monitored the patient’s condition until the plane made an emergency landing at Rhodes.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/382703

https://www.spiked-online.com/2023/12/30/how-hamas-weaponises-victimhood/

After Hamas’s brutal attack on Israel on 7 October, the speed with which woke Westerners came out in support of the terrorists remains shocking to recall. Within a matter of hours, pundits, activists and academics flooded social media to claim that this anti-Semitic pogrom was a form of anti-colonial resistance. Within days, they were out on the streets of Western cities staging ‘pro-Palestine’ protests, letting off celebratory flares and chanting the genocidal chant, ‘From the river to the sea’. It showed that identitarian Westerners are willing to justify violence, no matter how brutal, so long as it is perpetrated by certain identity groups.

This embrace of Hamas by these Westerners is not an aberration, however. It follows from the logic of identity politics itself.

There are two main reasons why identity politics and support for Hamas go hand in hand. Firstly, identity politics has sacralised victimhood. That is, it attributes an enormous amount of moral authority to groups and individuals on the basis of their perceived victimisation. As Palestinians have been uniformly framed as victims over several decades, they have a tremendous amount of moral authority in identitarian eyes. Secondly, for the woke, victims are by definition blameless. They can neither be doubted nor held responsible for their actions. In the eyes of Western identitarians, Hamas, as the representative of a blameless victim group, is not to be held responsible for what it did on 7 October.

Strikingly, Hamas and other reactionary Islamist groups have themselves bought into the language of victimisation and identity politics. They increasingly frame their actions in therapeutic terms. They present themselves as the traumatised victims of assorted forms of oppression. As Ghazi Hamad, a leading figure in Hamas, put it last month: ‘We are the victims of the [Israeli] occupation. Period. Therefore, nobody should blame us for the things we do. On 7 October, 10 October, 1,000,000 October – everything we do is justified.’